


Salvation

by SilvCyanide



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Ib (Video Game)
Genre: Forgotten Portrait, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 12:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9235697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilvCyanide/pseuds/SilvCyanide
Summary: In Hogwarts, there is a painting that does not move.





	

In Hogwarts, there is a painting that does not move. It is located in one of the many hallways of the school, one that is quite frequented by students coming to and fro, so most of the school has heard about it. Its occupant sleeps on, ensconced by blue roses in various stages of wilt, with briar thorns curled around his throat and wrists. The only whole rose is clasped in his hands which are folded neatly over his stomach, and the thorns on its stem dig into his skin, causing trickles of scarlet blood to flow down his fingers with no signs of ceasing. The man looks at peace, a faint smile on his pale face as his single visible eye remains ever closed, the other concealed by wavy lavender hair with darker strands of violet growing from the top of his head, such that it resembles an upside-down rose. A closer look would reveal that it is not so, as the top half of the man's face is cast in shadows and there's the slightest of frowns wrinkling his brows. Furthermore, the background of the painting is ominously dark.

He's dressed oddly, in muggle fashion, with a blue coat that looks pitifully ragged over a simple, green sleeveless shirt tucked into a pair of brown pants that's secured by a belt. Many of the students that walked past this painting have marvelled at the haunting beauty of the man, as if he's surrounded by sorrow and a seductive darkness. Sometimes the rose in his grasp glows softly, letting out a calming light that makes any who look at it feel at peace. Other times, dark shadows linger in the background, and close observation will reveal a blue doll with a mop of black hair and creepy red eyes, staring chillingly out of the canvas but never going into the illumination of the rose's light.

Many students and staff alike have tried to awaken the man who seemed too real to just be a portrait, but nothing has worked despite their best efforts, and strangely enough the other paintings cannot enter his, as if there was some force barring their way. Even though the portrait has no protective charms, it cannot be harmed by any spells or jinxes. Even though the occupant of the portrait is said to be sleeping, his chest does not move in any semblance of breaths. Even though it is the only portrait with a nameplate embedded into the wall below it, nobody has ever heard of [The Forgotten Portrait] before.

There is also a rumour that only on one particular day in a year, a little girl with red eyes and brown hair, wearing a crimson dress can be seen standing in front of this portrait, a red rose in her hand. She doesn't move no matter who calls out to her, eyes constantly trained on his face, tears rolling steadily down her cheeks even if her face is always blank, and nobody can get close enough to touch her. After midnight, she disappears from the school, and is not seen until the same day one year later. She's given the nickname of The Girl In Red as nobody knows her name, and there are speculations that the reason why she always appears on that day is because that is the day The Sleeping Man was sealed into his portrait, and she comes trying to awaken him from his eternal slumber, only to fail every time and vanish before reappearing the next year to try again. It is a painfully sad story, and many people instantly feel sorrowful for the young girl in her fruitless endeavour.

One year, though, something changes.

The girl doesn't come in the dead of night, but rather in the middle of the day where there is still much traffic around the portrait, with several first-years still entranced by the painting of the sleeping man and so pause to admire the fine brushstrokes and masterful use of colours.

She appears from thin air, and several of the more timid students scream when she suddenly pops into existence. The traffic of the hallway ceases as the students and teachers alike watch the events ongoing. Several of the older students note in surprise that her rose is not red but blue, just like the man's, and a teacher tries to conceal her shock that The Girl In Red appeared in the day for the first time in all the fifteen years she's taught here.

The audience watches enraptured as the girl touches the petals of the blue rose to the canvas, a look of hopeful expectation on her face that makes her seem younger than she probably was, rather than tears and blankness. Unknowingly, the entire audience holds their breath along with the girl as they stare at the portrait in expectation.

For a moment, nothing happens and they let out sighs of disappointment before a bright blue light emanates from where the rose and canvas touch.

The Sleeping Man slowly opens his eyes, and the darkness of the background recedes as the thorns wrapping around his body shrink away. He smiles gently, one hand releasing the rose in his grasp as the blood disappears to reveal unbroken skin, reaching out to the rose still touching the surface of his portrait.

To everyone's utter surprise, the hand emerges from the painting to grab the rose, and the moment he does that, the girl smiles painfully wide with joy as she steps backwards and watches him cast the first rose to the side, holding onto the rose she brought tightly enough that his knuckles are white.

The biggest shock had yet to come, because after that, for the first time in Hogwarts history, a painting steps out of his frame and into reality.

Gently, softly, he pulls himself from the bed of painted roses and, grasping onto the frame, leaps out of the portrait to land lightly on the stone floor of the castle.

"Garry!"

The cry of the little girl rings in the air as she runs forward to throw her arms around his waist. He rubs her head with a fond look on his face, and many girls sigh at the heartwarming scene. The Sleeping Man smiles down at the girl with her face buried in his shirt and shoulders shaking, as if she's crying her heart out, and his voice is soothing, soft, almost feminine as he says,

"Thank you, Ib."

She looks up at him with tears - this time of joy - running down her face and chirps,

"You're welcome!"

Before the eyes of the residents of Hogwarts, the two of them fade away and the only thing left behind is the empty portrait lacking its prisoner, with its nameplate bearing a single word.

[Salvation]

* * *

 

In the years following, another story will be passed down through the halls of Hogwarts, about how [The Forgotten Portrait] had been a cage for a sleeping man for many years, and how the beautiful man inside had escaped with the help of a little girl in a red dress. How they both vanished without a trace and how the man had achieved [Salvation].

 

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this in 1 hour because I couldn't get rid of the thought of, 'What if?' 
> 
> Sorry for the lack of plot. I wrote this just to satisfy my own desire to write an Ib/HP crossover.


End file.
